1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the bottled water industry and more particularly to a sheeled dolly/hand truck for transporting large five-gallon plastic jugs of bottled water.
2. General Background
There are a number of commercially available sources of drinking water typically spring water contained in plastic reusable bottles. The most common of these reusable plastic bottles is a standard five-gallon plastic jug having a narrow mouth and a flat bottom portion. Typically these five-gallon jugs having two or more annular rims extending outwardly from the bottle side wall to facilitate a carrying of the jugs and to provide rolling surfaces when the jugs are rolled on their sides. Such five-gallon bottled water containers are commercially available from a number of sources and are typically returned by the user when the water has been consumed therefrom. One example of a five-gallon spring water container is the subject of Design Patent D-270,136. Such bottles are manufactured by Liquie-Box of Worthington, Ohio.
A number of coolers/dispensers are commercially available for use in dispensing bottled water from such five-gallon bottled water containers. One of the most common types of commercially available bottled water dispensers is an inverted bottle type construction wherein the bottle is turned upside down into an open receptacle or well which is on the top of the cooler dispenser. The bottle must be lifted approximately four feet, turned upside down, placed into the well for use. Water is thereafter dispensed from the cooler dispenser by depressing dispensing buttons upon spigots which extend forwardly of the cabinet of the cooler/dispenser.
Such five-gallon bottled water containers are heavy weighing approximately fifty pounds each. A problem exists in that these bottled water dispensers are typically delivered to the home or to offices in multiples of, for example, two to five bottles at a time. This produces wear and tear upon delivery personnel that must remove these bottles from trucks, often a substantial distance from the home, office buildings, businesses, and the like. Thus, there is a need for a bottle water carrier which can easily and safely transport multiple bottles of large five-gallon bottled water containers.
Another problem with the use of five-gallon containers is the weight associated with these containers even when handled one at a time by the consumer. For example, older people and handicapped people are typically required to pay for bottled water in much smaller capacities because of the weight associated with the more economical five-gallon containers. This unfairly punishes older and handicapped people because typically bottled water costs much more when purchased in small quantities of, for example, one half-gallon or one gallon.
Thus, there is a need for a simple, easy to use, easy to construct carrier for bottled water when such water is contained in large bottles of five gallons the most economical commercially available version of bottled water in this country.